A Colorado development group led by banker Don Sturm would like to create four villages and a town center on part of the 26,000-acre former Lowry bombing range. The project would follow the natural contours of the land.
The LRPG LLC team has spent three years and $2.5 million planning the project, which could bring $238 million into state coffers over the next 20 years. In its first phase, the group would spend $32.5 million on conservation projects and developing a 30,000- square-foot community center and a school.
A team led by Carma Colorado would develop 8,600 residences and 2.8 million square feet of commercial space over the next 20 years. Its plan would generate $111.8 million.
The developers are among four teams vying for the chance to develop 40 square miles of state-owned land 15 miles southeast of Denver.
The parcel once held the Lowry Range and is thought to be the nation’s largest piece of undeveloped metropolitan property under one owner.
The state Board of Land Commissioners heard the presentations of the LRPG and Carma teams Wednesday. Australian developer Lend Lease made its presentation Tuesday, along with a team called Arapahoe Grasslands Conservancy, which is interested only in preserving 23,000 acres of the site.
Colorado holds the land in trust for the benefit of kindergarten-through-12th-grade public education. The land board has been charged with developing the parcel – which is five times larger than Stapleton – to maximize its value.
Competition in that part of the metropolitan area is stiff. Development has been proposed on 21,000 acres of land within a 15-minute drive of the site, said Dan Conway of THK Associates, who performed a market analysis for the Carma team. About 67,000 residences and about 30 million square feet of commercial space have been proposed for that land.
Next week, the land board will visit the four developers on site to get a better sense of who they are. There is no stated time frame for the selection, and the board is not obligated to select any of the proposals submitted.
Staff writer Margaret Jackson can be reached at 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com.
